Process of making ophthalmic blanks



F. FRASER I PROCESS OF MAKING OPHTHALMIC BLANKS May 31, 1927.

Filed July 16, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR (Frank Eraser: BY

\I ATTORNE I 1927. May 3 F. FRASER PROCESS OF MAKING OPHTHALMIC BLANKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR I ran]: (Jr-user: B

.. A ORNEY Filed July 16, 1924 1927. May 31, I F. FRASER PROCESS OF MAKING OPHTHALMIC BLANKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 16, 1924 INVENTOR 7 tank grascr: W7 {VFW ATT NEY Y Ma 31' 1927.

y F. FRASER PROCESS OF MAKING OPHTHALMIC BLANKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 16, 1924 INVENTOR Frank drasel'! AT RNEY Patented May 31, 1927.

stares Arsuryorrics.

FRANK FRASER, OF SOUTI-IBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR. T AMERICAN OP- TICAL COMPANY, OF SOUTHIBR'IDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS OF MAKING OPHTHALMIC BLANKS.

Application filed .nil ie,

The present invention relates to improved apparatus and process for manufacturing cellulose composition material ophthalmic spectacle and eyeglass mountings. V A very important object of this invention is to provide apparatus and process for manufacturing opthalmic spectacle and eyeglass mountings in such away that there will be practically no waste of the cellulose composition material employed in the type of mountings made from such material. Another importantobjectof the invention is to' provide apparatus for-forming a master blank from cellulose composition material from the green stock, after which the master blank may be either before'or after seasoning, cut up into individual opthalmic blanks from which the finished frames are made.

, Another important object of the invention is to provide apparatus for forming a master J blank for use in connection with the manufacture of opthalmic spectacle and eyeglass mountings, which master blank maybe suitably cut up into lengths to adapt the indi- 1 5 vidual lengths to'be used for fo-rminga finished opthalmic mounting without the usual waste of material heretofore experienced.

Another important object of the invention is to provide apparatus and process for. forcing cellulose 'composltlon material into 7 a mold, applying pressure to the material within the moldto give the composition the required consistency, and then allowing the material so ,molded to set up, thus forming a master blank fromwhich a plurality of individual opthalmie blanks may be formed.

Another important object of theinvention is to provide means whereby cellulose composition material can be forced into a mold In the drawings, wherein like numerals 1924. Serial N 72e,324.

are employed to designate like parts throughout the same: I I Figure 1' is va perspective view of one form of mold which may be used in accordance with my invention; I

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a slight-.1

ly modified form; I

Figure 3 1s a section on line 3,3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a seetiontaken on line 4- in Figure 3, looking in the direction of the.

AI'I'OWS.

Figure 5 shows a slightly different use of the mold Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of.

Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrow; I

Figure 7 shows another form of mold;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating one method of removing the cel 'lulose composition material after molding;

Figure 9 shows the master blank being separated into individual blanks;

Figure 10 is a front elevation of the individual blank; 1 1

Figure 11 shows the individual blank in the shaping mold;

Figure 12 shows theblank before shaping; i a

Figure 13 shows the blank after shaping;

Figure 14 shows the dipping operation.

Heretofore spectacle and eyeglass frames, and the like, have been blanked out from seasoned cellulose composition material. Ordinarily the cellulose composition material was in sheet form, the sheets measuring about 21 by 50 inches, each sheet weighing approximately eight and one-half pounds,

of which about two and one-half pounds were actually used in the construction 10f the frames, while the remaining six pounds were waste. purchased costs approximately $1.20 per pound, while the waste material sells for an average of about ten cents a pound, and

as about seventy-five'per cent of the seasoned stock was waste, many thousands of dollars'were lost annually with a resultant high cost of manufacture.

re-w'orked, so as to produce first grade sheets The seasonedsheet stock as The scrap above referred to could not be;

for this work, and due to the fact that the re-working is an expensive propos tion, it is hardly worth while to reclaim this waste material to form second grade stock. However, when the waste material is used in the production of secondgrade stock care must be exercised in keep ng different types of the material separated, that 1s, keeplng hatches having difi'erent dyes or colors segregated, and when re-working, mixing this scrap material with new stock and working the same together; the resultant material is called stuffed stock, which is a poor grade or'second grade material, and which cannot be used by the manufacturers of high class and high grade spectacle and eyeglass frames.

In addition to the expense of the sheet stockof cellulose composition material, due

tothe great amount of necessary waste when the blanks are cut out from sheet stock, it must be borne in mind that the dies, cutters, etc., employed in this form of manufacturing are exceptionally expensive, so that the actual cost of manufacturing ophthalmic spectacle and eyeglass mountings from sheet stock in this manner is very high.

With the present invention I provide means whereby the cellulose composition material can be, after it has been sufiiciently mixed in the initial manufacture thereof,

.age occasioned when blanks are stamped out from sheet stock.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the structures shown in the accompanying drawings in view of the fact that my invention embodies the idea of forcing, plasticcellulose material into a mold having the shape above set out under pres-1 sure. so that a master blank will be formed from which individual blanks can be cut, it. being understood that the master blank is of the shape of the desired finished ophthalmic mounting in its initial form so that no scrap material is wasted.- v

In Figure 1 of the drawings the numeral 20 designates generally the container in which the cellulose compositionmaterial is contained, while 21 designates a plunger with which pressure is applied to the composition material within the container or tank 20. A mold 22 is adapted to be as sociated with the container 20, and comsmall apertures 31 are provided.

prises theseparable sections 23 and 24. The sections 23 and 24, as is shown in Figure 3, are shaped to assimilate the desired finished curvature of the blank. A pair of cores 25 are passed through the dies so that the cellulose composition material 26 can be forced through the opening in the wall 27 in the tank 20, into the dies or mold 22, as is clearly indicated in Figure 3. The die 22 is preferably supported .on the platform or table 28, being firmly held in position by means of the clamp 29. A valve 30 is employed to cut off the flow of cellulose composition material after the necessary pressure has been applied upon the material within the .mold. To allow for the escape of air from within the mold as the composition material is forced therein, After the air has been exhausted from within the mold, I depend either upon the plugging up of the apertures by the cellulose composition material, or, ifdesired, small cups or valves can be employed to prevent oozing out of the material from within the mold. The sections of the mold 22 are securely clamped together by means of the pivoted screw threaded links 32 and thumb nuts 33, the said links 32 being pivoted on the pins 34 and adapted to be received through the slots 35 to permit of quick disassembling of the die sections when desired. 25 are supported at one end by the plate 36 which is adapted to close the end of the die, while the opposite end extends through air tight openings formed in'the ends of the mold. After the composition material has set up in the mold the cores may be removed and the-die secti ns separated and the master blank removed from the said mold and either allowed. to season or be separated into individual blanks immediately, allowing the individual blanks to season as desired. I

In Figure 2, I have shown means for removing the molded cellulose composition master blank from the mold without separating the mold sections 23. and 24, and to this end I extend the cores 25 beyond the end of the boXa-nd connect them as at 37 to each other so that they can be moved together. A lever 38 is connected to the portion 37 by means of the pin 39 riding in the slot 40. The lever 38 is-adaptedto be reciprocated or moved in such a manner as to reciprocate the core's'25 through the mold 22.- A template 41 is carried by the The cores cores 25 and is received within the mold Y of the hinged gate 42 which is hinged at 43 and has connection at one end with the link 44. The link 44 rocks about a pin 45 andis connected to the longer link 46, which is connected at the opposite end to the member 37. Upon reciprocation of the cores 25 the links 44 and 46 will cause the pivot door to be thrown open. The reciprocation of the cores will shove the template 41, which -is keyed to the said cores against that end of the cellulose composition, thus {the same time that the cores are being drawn back intothe mold. the .door 42 will be closedand more cellulose composition will be forced onto the mold, and so on. Y

In Figures 5 and 6 the same-type of mold is-used, except that the cellulose composition is forced into the end of the mold .instead of the side.

In Figure 7 the die sections 49 and 50 are employed, the die section 50 having the upwardly extending lip 51 around its edges, and is adapted to receive the mold section 49. The cores 52 are rigidly supported and a slight excess of composition material is introduced within the mold, after. which View of the blank, while Figure 12 shows an end view of the blank as illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, which is similar to the blank that has heretofore been stamped out from sheet stock, but it will'be noticed that none of the material heretofore wasted has been wasted in the present blank in View of the fact that. the master blank 54 is formed in its shape inthe initial molding of the composition material.

It is to be borne in mind that the cellulose composition material used is never eral 670,679, filed October 25,- 1923, now- Patent 1,607,522'dated Nov. 16, 1926, I disclosed the idea of forming such a master blank by extrusion.

The aimof the present invention is to provide means whereby the plastic material may be forced into a mold underpressure so that the consistency of the material will.

be constant throughout the entire'blank.

If it is desired, after the individual blanks 55 have been cut out, they may be placed one at a time in a mold 56, which is s so shaped that when pressure is applied it will cause the blank 55 to assume a shape similar to that shown in Figure 13.; The mold 56 is adapted to round'the edges of the blank to obviate thenecessity of milling, and to also form the bridge '57. This molding operation can either take place, while the blanks are still green, 'or, if it is desired, the blanks can be seasoned for a sufiicient length of time and then molded.

In Figure 14 I show the blanks 55 as being dipped in a tank of suitable material 58 to give a luster or finish to the blanks to obviate the necessity of hand polishing. If the mold 56 does not sufliciently smooth theblanks they may be rattled or smoothed off as desired, after which they may be dippedin the solution 58 which will adhere to the blanks and give a suitable finish.

In addition to the foregoing it is to be understood that I may make provision to force the cellulose composition material into a suitable mold, after which it may be gradually removed from the mold and cut olf into the individual length as it leaves the I mold, and may then be dropped into the dies 56 and shaped and thus on until the blanks have been suitably seasoned and are ready for use as anophthalmic mounting.

On the other hand, the blanks 55 may be gorked as the blanks have heretofore been one.

It will readily be apparent that the amount of cellulose material saved by forming the master blank 54 as I have above set out, will mount up so as to more than cover the expense of the dies and molds employed in my process. On the other hand it will not be necessary to go to the expense of making the templates, cutters, etc., heretofore used in stamping out such blanks from sheet stock.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same and that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of. parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or' the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described claim:

1. The process of forming a master blank my invention, I

of the character described, consisting of forcing a plastic cellulose composition material into a mold, andthen applying pressure to the moldto thoroughly compress the cellulose composition material.

the mold, and cutting the bank into desired thicknesses.

3. The process of forming an ophthalmic blank consisting of molding a master blank, cutting the master blank into blanks of the desired thicknesses, and then placing the individual blanks in a mold to shape the same. Y

4. The process of forming an ophthalmic blank consisting of molding a master blank, cutting the master blank into blanks of the desired thiclmesses, placing the individual cutting the master blank into blanks of the desired thicknesses, placing the individual blanks in a mold to shape'the same, and then subjecting the shaped blank to a polishing action. a

6.. The herein described process of manufacturing compressed spectacle frame blanks which comprises forming an article of plas- 'tic material with a cross sectional contour like that of a spectacle frame blank, then subjecting the, said article to pressure while heated, then allowing it to cool, and then subdividing the article transversely thereof into a plurality of sections each of which constitutes a spectacle frame blank.

FRANK FRASER. 

